It was a very apologetic Tote on Thursday night after punters who wagered on 6-1 Sandown victor Flying Destination were very confused and checking their slips with a return of just Â£1.60 for the win and Â£1.02 a place for the 13 starter race.

George Primarolo

The 5pm event caused an even larger ruffle when no dividends at all were returned for the 14 starter race. Citing a technical glitch at its Wigan installation, theTote stated that the trouble meant that the dividends would need to calculated again.

The dividend for the 3.5pm race was not announced until 8.54pm and at that time, they were still trying to recalculate the return for the 5.00pm.

Many stunned punters had been loath to cash in their slips for the 3.55pm after seeing the original payout and according to Tote spokesman George Primarolo, they can do so in writing to the customer service department in Wigan whose address appears on the back side of the slip.

He added, "Likewise, if punters who handed in their ticket would like to contact us by letter we'll sort out the correct payment for the 3.55 and 5.00 races. It was all due to a technical problem, and meant dividends had to be recalculated. We do apologise for what happened."